This and that | Ripple's Web

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A model, wearing a Campbell’s Soup dress in a nod to Andy Warhol’s iconic pop art, stands at the “Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal” exhibition currently showing in Shanghai.

American pop artist Andy Warhol poses in a Mao suit — the common attire of men in China during the second half of the 20th century, including Communist Chinese leader Mao Zedong. The photo was taken in a New York studio after his return from China.

During his first and only trip in China, Warhol is pictured in front of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, with its iconic portrait of Chairman Mao in November 1982.

After signing as a model with Ford Agency, Warhol began considering how to pose for the camera. Warhol experimented with poses in front of his friend and personal photographer, Christopher Makos. Here, he imitates the expression of one of the guardian lions in Beijing’s Forbidden City.

In his hotel room in Beijing, Warhol tried poses inspired by the many people he observed practicing tai chi outdoors.

Warhol stands by Chinese citizens on the Great Wall of China.

Warhol also spent a morning at the Great Wall of China. “It doesn’t look like a wall, it looks like a rollercoaster without the roller,” Makos recalls him remarking.

Christopher Makos (L) and Andy Warhol (R) had their picture taken in front of Tiananmen Square by one of the photographers hanging around the area. Back in the U.S., they received the hand-colored photo in the mail a few months later.

Several of Warhol’s “Chairman Mao” portraits from the collection of Gunter Sachs are pictured at the auction preview at Sotheby’s London in May 2012.

A visitor takes photos at the exhibition “Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal” showing at Shanghai’s Power Station of Art from April 28- May 31. The show excluded his iconic portraits of Chairman Mao.

A Christie’s art expert walks by a Mao portrait by Andy Warhol at a press preview in Hong Kong in October 2006. The piece was auctioned to Hong Kong property tycoon Joseph Lau for US$ 17.4 million the following month in New York, setting a world auction record for the artists.

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Hong Kong (CNN) — When American pop artist Andy Warhol visited Beijing in 1982 and was told there wasn’t a McDonald’s, he replied: “Oh, but they will.”

Twenty-six years after his death, Warhol, whose much-lauded prescience extended across visual and consumer culture, has popped up in China once again — and he was right about the fast-food chain.

“Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal,” the first major retrospective of his work in China, recently arrived in Shanghai with the aim of acquainting the Chinese public with the artist who created some of the most famous paintings of the most iconic figure in the country’s history.

Warhol goes to China

While Warhol’s trip to Beijing was his first and only visit to mainland China, his engagement with the country started a decade earlier, inspired by former U.S. president Richard Nixon’s rapprochement with the communist power in 1972.

On China: Contemporary art

On China: Censoring contemporary art

On China: Contemporary art unhindered

Ripping from the headlines, Warhol adopted Chairman Mao as his subject, applying his signature pop aesthetic to China’s paramount leader. His series of portraits went on to become some of his most well-known works.

READ: Can Chinese art be cutting edge?

“Mao was front-page news in America and that was often where Warhol got his biggest inspiration,” said Eric Shiner, director of Philadelphia’s Andy Warhol Museum, which organized the exhibition. He described Mao as “classic Warhol subject matter.”

Warhol relied on a copy of Mao’s portrait photograph in the leader’s Little Red Book of ideological quotations to create his paintings. Little did he know that he would eventually pose for a photo in front of the original portrait hanging in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

His trip to Beijing was an unexpected byproduct of a visit to Hong Kong. The industrialist Alfred Siu had invited him to the city to attend the opening of a night club, decorated with portraits of Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana that he had commissioned from the artist. Upon Warhol’s arrival, Siu announced he had arranged a VIP tour to Beijing for him and his friends.

Artistic inspiration aside, China also provided Warhol with a respite from the pressures of fame. “It was one of the special places,” said Christopher Makos, the artist’s close friend and personal photographer.

READ: Hong Kong’s art explosion

He recalled that Warhol went virtually unrecognized in China, although the artist stood out for his unusual looks. “As Andy would say, he didn’t have to wear his Andy suit. Notoriety and fame is a double-edged sword….you have no privacy.”

China’s communist uniformity, with its blue sea of unisex Mao suits, appealed to Warhol’s aesthetic obsession with repetition. “He was all about multiples…and at the time, China was the ultimate multiple,” Makos said.

The country also provided a source of inspiration for Warhol’s nascent modeling career. Warhol posed for Makos’ camera with gestures he adopted from the tai chi practitioners he observed outdoors — and even adopted the bared-teeth expression of the guardian lion in the Forbidden City in one photo.

Can Warhol make a name in China?

While Warhol is well-known within art and fashion circles in China (Shiner said 600 of these cultural elite attended the exhibition’s pre-opening), he remains unknown to the average Chinese citizen.

Many Chinese are familiar with certain Warhol works, such as the Marilyn Monroe or the Chairman Mao portraits, reproductions of which dot cafes and tourist markets across Beijing. But they are much less likely to connect the work with the artist — or to even have heard of the artist himself.

“If you don’t know who Andy Warhol is, I won’t blame you. But if you say you’ve never seen his Marilyn Monroe portrait, I would have to jump into the Huangpu river and kill myself!” wrote user @Jianisi_yangyang on Sina Weibo. A search on China’s popular Twitter-like platform revealed many posts by users expressing ignorance of whom Warhol was or why he is famous.

Having recently launched a “massive” advertising campaign and sat for dozens of interviews with mainland media outlets, Shiner is hoping to reach the masses.

“One of the reasons why I wanted to do this show is so the general public can learn about the artist behind these iconic works and realize (Mao and Marilyn Monroe) are just a few of thousands of images he made,” he said.

So far, it appears that this education is welcome — and necessary. “For the first time, I learned the charm of pop art,” Weibo user @Yanmingdu wrote about the exhibition, while user @GracieMankedun posted, “Just saw Andy Warhol’s exhibition and I got a little confused. For example, I didn’t understand the Campbell’s soup cans.”

“The curiosity is greater than the awareness,” said John Good, international director for post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s, which is holding its second private sale of Warhol’s work in Hong Kong this week. “We’ve seen a great deal of interest and curiosity (among Chinese) about Western art and international culture. I think Warhol is a perfect artist…to show what Western culture is all about.”

Christie’s first private Warhol sale in Hong Kong last November attracted a mostly Asian demographic and managed to sell nearly half of its lots, Good said.

Censoring Mao in China

However, visitors to the “15 Minutes External” exhibitions in mainland China will not see any Chairman Mao portraits. While Shiner was planning the exhibition with the host venue — the Shanghai Power Station of Art — its staff advised that exhibiting the Mao works wasn’t a “good idea right now.” A staff member told CNN that government authorities would have considered the works “too political.”

“Of course, the primary concern is to get the show there and up and not put anything in a category that would ever question anything,” Shiner said. “Knowing that we would have the censors from the Ministry of Culture, we wanted to make sure… that nothing would put the show in jeopardy.”

An editorial in the state-backed Global Times newspaper suggested that while Warhol may not have had ill intent, the “provocative” blotches of color splattered on Mao’s face suggested that he was wearing make-up — a disrespectful portrayal of the iconic leader.

While Shiner acknowledged the Mao portraits “could be read as a sarcastic or ironic portrayal”, he said Warhol “definitely wasn’t being critical. He always liked to blur the lines on gender, and making colorful men somewhat beautiful was something that he liked to do as an inside joke,” he added.

Once the Chinese public gains a deeper understanding of Warhol’s work, he expects that the Mao works “won’t be as big a deal.”

Influence on Chinese contemporary art

Warhol’s influence on Chinese contemporary art can actually be traced back to 1981, when many contemporary artists, labeled as dissidents, fled the country, Shiner said. While most of them went to Paris and Berlin, two artists “very specifically went to New York because they wanted quite literally to be part of Andy’s universe” — Ai Weiwei and Xu Bing.

Both artists have gone on to become some of the most recognized and celebrated names in Chinese contemporary art, and some would go as far as calling Ai Weiwei “China’s Andy Warhol.”

“Ai Weiwei loves the idea of multiples,” Makos pointed out, noting Ai’s most famous installations, including the 9,000 backpacks representing the schoolchildren killed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and the millions of porcelain sunflower seeds he poured into the Turbine Hall of London’s Tate Modern museum.

Shiner readily concurred: “He’s really gone on to model his entire art-making process and career on proven Warhol tactics, looking at repetition, multiplication, and critique of consumer culture. When you look at his Coca-Cola works, that’s directly related to Warhol and it’s really amazing how many things he picked up from Andy.”

As for Xu Bing, viewers may not immediately see Warhol in his work, Shiner said, but he described the artist as a “huge fan of Warhol” who “loves the idea of repetition — the formal arrangement of Chinese character after Chinese character, an endless array of similar looking imagery.”

Unfortunately, neither artist became acquainted in person with their muse, despite moving to New York for him. Ai once spotted Warhol at a party, but did not approach him, Shiner revealed. “As a young man, he was too shy to actually go and say hello,” he said, recalling that Ai told him his English wasn’t good enough at the time.

Ai and Xu aside, the Warhol aesthetic and vocabulary has deeply influenced Chinese contemporary artists over the past 10-15 years, with its characteristic combinations of social realist imagery with pop culture and iconic brands.

The Shanghai exhibition will run to July 28 and make its way to Beijing later this year. Meanwhile, Makos will also hold an exhibition of his photographs of Warhol next month in Shanghai, including images from their 1982 trip in China.

“His work lives on. Maybe (the Chinese) don’t know him, but they know his work,” Makos said, predicting that Warhol “will get bigger and bigger in China.”

“Andy was the ultimate pop artist. To this day you can still find Campbell soup on the shelf in the grocery store and you can see multiples of them,” Makos said. “As long as that imagery is live and well, Warhol will have this built-in publicity.”

CNN’s Feng Ke contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/world/asia/china-andy-warhol-exhibition/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/wEUaT5ak4Y4/andy-warhol-pops-up-in-china-again

Poznan, Poland (CNN) — At the top of a flight of stairs with no elevator in sight, registered nurse Katarzyna Kaseja leans over the rickety metal bars of a crib. Her 4-year-old patient, a ventilator tube fastened to his throat, reaches out to take her hand.

“It’s hard to work as a nurse in Poland,” said Kaseja, 25. Since she began her career at the Specialized Hospital for Mother and Child in the western Poland city of Poznan, little funding and outdated machinery have only been part of the problem.

“There are not enough nurses, and you have to do everything,” she said. “And there is little money and low prestige.”

Meager salaries and demanding hours for nurses, however, are not purely a Polish problem. Throughout Europe, the nursing profession is rapidly losing its appeal. An aging workforce and dwindling student enrollment in nursing schools are precipitating a looming nursing crisis.

Add to that an economic recession and more seniors requiring long-term care, and Europe may be facing a shortage of 1 million health professionals by 2020, according to a European Union Joint Action on Health Workforce Planning estimate.

“People are leaving the profession because they can’t stand the difficult work anymore,” said Paul De Raeve, secretary general of the European Federation of Nurses Associations, which represents the interests of nurses in 27 European countries. “The young generation thinks you must be a fool to go into nursing.”

It’s actually bad all over: America, too, may have 1.2 million job openings for nurses, due to job growth and replacements, by 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Baby boomers causing doctor shortage

A shortage of medical volunteers

However, De Raeve believes the United States can serve as an example for Europe, as President Barack Obama’s administration has committed to improving working conditions.

When the Affordable Care Act takes full effect in 2014, nursing may soon become a more attractive career option in the United States. As part of the ACA, in addition to loan forgiveness programs, nurses will receive increased financial support for pursuing training programs and obtaining advanced certification.

Your health care is covered, but who’s going to treat you?

But in Europe, a clear-cut solution to the nursing crisis may prove to be elusive, as governments and international organizations have very different approaches to dealing with the problem.

In countries such as the United Kingdom, which expects a nursing shortage within the next five years, the focus is on disease prevention and public health to reduce the overall number of patients.

According to Peter Sharp, chief executive at the United Kingdom’s Centre for Workforce Intelligence, an organization providing research and advice on workforce planning, recruiters should encourage nurses who left the job market due to family commitments to return to the workforce. Another plan is to train experienced nurses to take on greater responsibilities.

“A doctor costs more than four times a nurse,” Sharp said. “If you don’t spend as much on doctors, you can spend more on nursing.”

In other countries, such as Germany, the shortage is particularly acute, and the immigration of health care workers from poorer economies even outside of Europe is becoming part of the solution.

“We expect a tremendous nursing shortage of about 500,000 people by 2030,” said Professor Stefan Goerres, managing director of the Institute for Public Health and Health Care Research at the University of Bremen. “Even if the profession were more attractive, there just aren’t enough young people due to declining birth rates.”

In an attempt to alleviate the shortage, the Arbeitgeberverband Pflege, a health employer’s union in Berlin, has come up with an idea — enlisting nurses from China. In cooperation with the German Federal Employment Agency, an experimental project has recruited an initial 150 nurses from China to work in hospitals and nursing homes beginning in early 2014.

This month, at the Shandong International Nurse Training Center in Weihai, China, the nurses selected for the program are beginning their eight-month training in German life, culture, and language.

“The nurses learn international standards for caring, washing the elderly, and physical therapy,” said Kevin Ji, marketing executive of the government-sanctioned nursing center. The training center, which opened in 2001, has more than 400 students a year and has sent its graduates to countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

As part of the curriculum, the nurses destined for Germany have begun absorbing the tenets of German culture to ensure a smooth transition into Western society. “Recently, we had a lecture on garbage and recycling,” Ji said. “It’s very complicated in Germany.”

To create a more unified response to the nursing crisis on a European level, the Joint Action on Health Workforce Planning, funded in part by the European Commission, recently launched a project to foster international cooperation. Beginning this month, its agenda will also focus on the increasing mobility of nurses throughout Europe and its potential social and economic impact.

As the member states of the Joint Action begin to meet, some have expressed concern that the migration of nurses within Europe may have unintended consequences.

“Hungary and Poland are worried that their workforce is being poached by richer countries,” said Sharp, who attended the first Joint Action session in Brussels in April.

While weaker economies fear losing their best and brightest workers, wealthier countries worry about a potential influx of job seekers in a time when Europe is still in the throes of a recession. This scenario could become a reality in January 2014, when the Eastern European countries of Romania and Bulgaria gain unrestricted access to the EU.

The migration of nurses is further exacerbated by a significant wage disparity within Europe. While a nurse in the U.K. can expect a salary of about $2,800 a month, according to National Health Service estimates, a nurse in Romania can earn less than $200.

Back in Poland, about 500 nurses have requested official certificates to seek employment abroad over the past decade, said Teresa Kruczkowska, head of the self-governing Regional Parliament of Nurses in Poznan. In an area of only 3.5 million inhabitants, this would be enough to staff two large hospitals.

Kaseja, the nurse at the children’s intensive care unit in Poznan, said she loves working with children. But would she consider moving to a better-paying country?

She hesitates. In the small ward — its walls painted a cheerful green — her young patients lay motionless beneath the bulky, dated ventilator machines.

“Maybe,” she says.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/21/health/europe-nursing-shortage/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/72KJHe-9-Pw/where-did-europes-nurses-go

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According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Panama City is the world’s third cheapest major city. Over the past decade, however, Panama has enjoyed the fastest growing economy in Latin America, bringing new luxury hotels, restaurants and services.

For the indecisive gourmand, Manolo Caracol serves a fantastic nine-course tasting menu for $36 per person. Blueberry ice cream with sugarcane honey (pictured) is a typical dessert.

In the old town of Casco Viejo, the Canal House has just three suites (from $320 per night) set around a large wooden staircase. The high-end guesthouse is owned by two sisters and loved for its quirky charm and homemade cooking.

Latin America’s first Waldorf Astoria hotel opened in March 2013. Book early and rooms start from $159, with that swanky pool included.

It’s not just about heavy shipping. The Panama Canal is one of the world’s true man-made marvels, and beautiful, too. Numerous land, water and aerial tours are available from Panama City.

Casa del Horno is a pretty boutique hotel on a colorful cobbled street in Casco Viejo. Surrounded by churches and plazas, it’s one of many colonial buildings to be renovated in recent years, making Casco Viejo feel a bit like Cartagena in neighboring Colombia.

The year-old Tantalo Hotel has brought a new sense of style to the capital. Each of its 12 rooms was designed by a different Panamanian artist. Designs range from gentle and flowery to seductive, with red and black walls and silver ceiling studs.

New everything seems to be sprouting up across the capital. Healthy competition is keeping standards high and Panama City now has a plethora of top-quality, luxury experiences for cut prices. Affluence is bringing sights like these yachts to Puerto Amador, a Panama City suburb.

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(CNN) — When the Economist Intelligence Unit released its most recent Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, the spotlight, as ever, fell on the world’s most expensive cities.

Tokyo came in on top of the pile of places that drain the color from your wallet, while Osaka and Sydney were second and third.

World’s most expensive cities

But what about the other end of the spectrum — how about a holiday where you can live it up without hemorrhaging cash?

The world’s cheapest city is Tehran, Iran, followed by Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Both have rich heritages, but Iran and Saudi Arabia are better known for generating controversial headlines than attracting tourists.

In third place, however, Panama City popped up. The Central American country is best known for hats and a canal — now we’ve got a reason to make sure our passport is up to date!

Over the past decade, Panama has enjoyed the fastest growing economy in Latin America.

As a result, new hotels and restaurants have sprouted across the capital. Healthy competition is keeping standards high, and Panama City has a plethora of top-quality, luxury experiences for cut prices.

Logistics

Before stepping foot outside the airport, you’ve started saving. All tourists arriving at Tocumen International Airport are given travel insurance for 30 days. It is granted by the Panamanian Tourism Authority; the government has provided the service since it signed an $8 million deal with Assicurazioni Generali.

Next up: cash. The Panamanian balboa is linked with the dollar and the two currencies are interchangeable, so there’s no paying a commission for changing currency.

As for airport transfers, a standard taxi to the city center costs $25. You could arrive in style with a Panama Luxury Limousine for $88.50. The same service would cost $145 in Rio de Janeiro, or $427 in Tokyo.

More cents can be saved (and you can do your bit for the environment) by avoiding bottled water. Tap water in Panama City is safe to drink, not a given in the region.

Hotels

Waldorf Astoria Panama

Latin America’s first Waldorf Astoria hotel opened in March 2013.

Book early and rooms start from $159.

Located on Calle Uruguay, aka “restaurant row,” the 248 rooms have metallic, glass and crystal decor designed by Miami-based Ba-Haus/KNF.

A stay here certainly doesn’t feel like skimping. The outdoor swimming pool is covered in gold tiles, there’s a swanky spa and each guest is given a personal concierge.

Overseen by head chef Kalych Padro Alvarado, four restaurants include a sushi bar and a French brasserie.

Waldorf Astoria Panama, 47th and Uruguay Streets; rooms from $159; +507 294 8000

Casa del Horno

Founded in 1501, Panama was a Spanish colony for three centuries. Known as Casco Viejo, the historic part of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Casa del Horno (Oven House) sits on a colorful cobbled street in Casco Viejo. Surrounded by churches and plazas, it’s one of many colonial buildings to be renovated in recent years, making Casco Viejo feel like Cartagena in neighboring Colombia.

Built in the 1850s, the eight-room hotel was originally a bakery. Stone walls remain, alongside art deco wooden furniture and all the modern fixtures, including LCD TVs and iPod docks.

The hotel’s cafe and restaurant are reached via the pavement, avoiding the clinical feel that can befall hotel restaurants.

Casa del Horno, Avenue B and Eighth Street; +507 212 0052; rooms from $250 for two-person suite

Tantalo Hotel

The year-old Tantalo Hotel has 12 rooms, each designed by a different Panamanian artist. Designs range from gentle and flowery to seductive, with red-and-black walls and silver ceiling studs.

Downstairs, a “living wall” is made from 900 lush plants. The restaurant dishes up Panama-style tapas, such as octopus with lemongrass and ginger. Cocktails, wine and several dishes to share will cost around $30 a head.

Each month, paintings in the communal areas change.

“The idea is for the fourth floor to be like an art gallery that you can wander around with a drink,” says assistant manager Catalina Bermudez.

The big, buzzing rooftop bar has panoramic views and hosts events including a monthly Cuban music evening.

Tantalo, Avenue B and Eighth Street; +507 262 4030; rooms from $120

Canal House

Canal House is a creaky 19th-century mansion in Casco Viejo, and checking in feels like staying with a stately aunt. With just three suites set around a large wooden staircase, this high-end guesthouse is owned by two sisters and loved for its quirky charm and homemade cooking. It was called “the finest accommodation that exists in Panama,” by Panama 980 magazine.

Canal House, Calle 5a Este; +507 228-1907; rooms from $195, suites from $320

Dining and nightlife

Restaurante Angel (Via Argentina No. 6868, El Cangrejo; +507 263 6411) is the city’s special occasion Spanish restaurant. You’ll get impeccably prepared seafood, beef, lamb and rabbit in an elegant setting with crisp service for around $20-25 per person, not including drinks.

There’s big food and big atmosphere for reasonable prices at Las Bovedas (Plaza Francia; +507 228 8058), a French restaurant set in the arched vaults of a 300-year-old fort in Casco Viejo. Fresh seafood, steaks, snails (it’s a signature dish) and great service are the hallmarks at this dressy classic.

Panamanian food is a mix of European, Asian and African tastes. The best way to experience the fusion is at Maito (Calle 50, Coco del Mar; +507 391 4657). It’s not often you order plantain hash with fried ceviche and come out smiling. Then there’s the ropa vieja main of shredded beef with a goat cheese sauce. Panamanian chef Mario Castrellón trained in Barcelona and returned to his hometown with a mission to start a “new gastronomy” inspired by the canal — the idea being that the waterway literally brings these different influences to the city.

For the indecisive gourmand, Manolo Caracol (Avenida Central and Calle 3, +507 228 4640) serves a set nine-course tasting menu for $36 per person. Busy and smart, yet relaxed, the open kitchen churns out seafood, meat and vegetable dishes made with local ingredients, the majority of which come straight from chef Caracol’s farm. Highlights include seafood bisque, corn tortilla with chorizo, and coconut fish curry with yuca tortillas.

Not exactly luxury but tasty and cheap all the same, Mercado del Marisco seafood market (Avenida Balboa and Calle Eloy Alfaro) is a great place to wander. When Anthony Bourdain came to Panama, this was his first stop. Here you’ll find rows of al fresco stalls selling ceviche for $1.25 a cup. There’s also an upstairs restaurant with a larger menu with hearty fish stews and filleted sea bass.

New Casco Viejo coffeehouse Bajareque sells the world’s most expensive coffee, Geisha, for a reasonable $6.50 a cup. Panama is the world’s only producer of this rare coffee, which typically retails for $172.50 per kilo. Fitting for its name, Geisha coffee mainly sells in Japan and costs $50 a cup at Tokyo coffee shops like Horiguchi Coffee.

The primary nightlife spots are Calle Uruguay and Casco Viejo, both of which are lined with places to sample Panama’s four national beers, Panama, Balboa, Suarana and Atlas, for a couple of dollars.

In Casco Viejo, Habana Panama (Calle Eloy Alfaro y Calle 12 Este; +507 212 0152), isn’t just the hottest dance spot in the city, it’s an atmospheric salsa hall that recalls the elegance of old Cuba and Ricky Ricardo style. Live bands typically don’t hit the stage until midnight. For a typical $10 cover you’ll find fewer better shows (or more fun) anywhere.

Then there’s Barlovento (Calle 10 A; +507 6613 4345), a tropical-style rooftop bar where the beautifuls hang. With views over Casco Viejo (rather than the Panama City skyline over at Tántalo) and a DJ playing a mix of electronic music and Latin beats, the place is pumping on the weekends. Again there’s a $10 cover charge (if you’re male that is; women enter free) but you’d easily pay a $25 cover for the same deal in Mexico City.

Attractions

Panama Viejo

The oldest section of the city, Panama Viejo was burned to the ground in the late 17th century by British pirate (or privateer, depending who you ask) Sir Henry Morgan.

The crumbling remains of towers, forts and houses run along the coast waiting to be explored. The visitors center has a model showing the city before Morgan showed up.

Panama Viejo; +507 226 8915; $3 for museum, $4 for ruins, $6 for both; open Tuesday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal took 250,000 people more than 10 years to build (not counting the original failed French-led effort), transports 40 boats each day (taking eight to 10 hours per transit) and costs an average of $85,000 per vessel.

Luckily, tours are a little less, and a partial transit with Canal Bay Tours costs $135 per person, including breakfast, lunch and transfer though two sets of locks.

The Panama Canal celebrates its centenary in 2014, and to mark the occasion it’s undergoing a $5.25 billion modernization and expansion.

Progress is best viewed from above. Air Charter Panama arranges one-hour helicopter tours covering the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the canal from $749 for three passengers in a Robinson R44.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/17/travel/panama-city-luxury/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/91EQWtCJiFU/live-large-pay-small-in-panama-city

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New York Yankees president Randy Levine, MLS chief Don Garber and Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano revealed the new franchise plans.

Former Manchester City star Patrick Vieira threw a ceremonial pitch at a recent New York Yankees game against Toronto.

Former French international star Thierry Henry is the star player at the only current MLS franchise in the Big Apple, the New York Red Bulls.

David Beckham played for six seasons with Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS and helped popularize football in the United States. He helped them to the last two MLS titles.

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(CNN) — Two of the richest organizations in sport announced Tuesday that they have partnered to buy a Major League Soccer franchise in New York.

English Premier League side Manchester City will be the majority owner with MLB giants New York Yankees also claiming a stake in the team — which will be named New York City FC (NYCFC).

The MLS currently has 19 clubs — including the New York Bulls — with NYCFC looking to join the league for the 2015 season.

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“This is a transformational development that will elevate the league to new heights in this country,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber.

“The New York area is home to more than 19 million people — and we look forward to an intense crosstown rivalry between New York City Football Club and the New York Red Bulls that will captivate this great city,” he added.

Abu-Dhabi owned Manchester City will take the lead on recruiting the management team, staff and players for the new franchise, which will be on the hunt for a permanent home in the Big Apple — with the Flushing Meadows area of Queens identified as a possible location.

“New York is a legendary sports town, as well as a thriving global city with a rapidly expanding soccer fan-base,” Ferran Soriano, the Chief Executive Officer of Manchester City said.

Read: LA Galaxy claim second straight title as Beckham departs

City, who saw their own cross city rivals Manchester United wrest the EPL title from them this season, have already expanded their activities in the United States by setting up community programs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

They have an existing marketing deal with 27-time World Series champion Yankees and the Manchester City squad will be in New York to play a friendly against fellow EPL giants Chelsea at the Yankee Stadium Saturday.

“We are pleased to be associated with this major move by MLS to increase its presence in the New York market,” said Hal Steinbrenner, managing general partner of the Yankees.

Steinbrenner said they wanted to work with City to “create something very special for the soccer fans of New York.”

The Red Bulls, who are owned by the soft drinks company bearing that name, have recruited the likes of former Arsenal, Barcelona and French international star Thierry Henry and have a growing fan base.

Watch video: Henry enjoys life at the Bulls

They have a purpose built stadium in New Jersey, while the New York Cosmos have also reformed and will join the second-tier of the MLS later this year.

In the 1970s the Cosmos boasted a legendary line-up which included Brazil’s Pele and former German international captain Franz Beckenbauer.

They even played for two seasons at the Yankee Stadium but they folded in 1984 — the same year the then North American Soccer League (NASL) collapsed.

Since the formation of the MLS in 1996, football has enjoyed steady growth in the United States — boosted by the arrival of David Beckham to Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007.

Beckham, who helped Galaxy to the MLS championship for the past two seasons, retired after a brief spell with Paris Saint-Germain and is reported to want to set up his own franchise in the league.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/21/sport/football/football-new-york-man-city-yankees/index.html?eref=edition

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Bayern Munich won the German Bundesliga title by a margin of 25 points from second placed Borussia Dortmund, who have been champions in the two previous seasons. Bayern finished an incredible 36 points clear of fourth placed Schalke. Critics argue the dominance of both clubs could be bad for Germany’s top tier, which they say is becoming too predictable.

As well as domestic dominance, both clubs are excelling in European competition. Germany’s top two — Bayern and Dortmund — will contest the Champions League final at Wembley on May 25.

Just days before Dortmund’s Champions League semifinal with Spanish giants Real Madrid it was confirmed one of their star players, Mario Gotze, would be joining Bayern next season for a deal reported to be worth $56 million. Signing one of their nearest rivals’ best players should only strengthen Bayern’s grip on domestic competition.

All-conquering Bayern, who will contest the German Cup final on June 1 as they seek an historic treble, are preparing to welcome Josep Guardiola as their new coach for next season. The former Barcelona manager won 14 trophies in a four-year spell at the Spanish giants, sparking a clamor for his signature after he spent a year out of the game.

German clubs are famed for being well run, creating a good atmosphere at games, with Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion a case in point. Cheap tickets for standing areas play a large part in that, and Dortmund’s players make a point of thanking their supporters after every game.

All but three top-flight clubs — Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim — are owned by supporters under the 50+1 rule, that dictates clubs must be majority owned by fans to prevent them being taken over by private investors. The last vote on changing the “50+1″ rule came back in 2009 and only Hannover 96 voted to scrap it. Here Hamburg fans hold up banners at a recent Bundesliga match against Hannover that reads: “Us for you, you for us.”

There are exceptions lower down the leagues too. In 2009, soft drinks giant Red Bull bought the license of German fifth division club SSV Markranstädt to create Rasen Ballsport Leipzig. The aim was to make the top tier — the Bundesliga — within 10 years. Leipzig will contest a playoff to make the third division in June.

Red Bull was prevented from attaching its brand name to the club so settled for calling it Rasen Ballsport Leipzig, shortened to RB Leipzig so as to carry the energy drink firm’s initials.

The club moved from its old home to the newly-built Red Bull Arena in 2010. It is the fifth soccer team in the company’s portfolio.

Reports estimate that Red Bull is prepared to pump $128 million into the club. A new training center and youth academy, currently being built, will open in 2015 at a cost of $45 million.

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(CNN) — Most fans would agree that a great football league needs some key ingredients: skilful players, excitement and drama on the pitch; and off the field, passionate supporters and owners who love and understand the game.

But these days soccer is also about big business, million-dollar deals and billionaire benefactors lining up to plow money into the game.

Those seeking a balance between these sometimes awkward bedfellows will often point to Germany and the Bundesliga. With two clubs in Saturday’s Champions League final at London’s Wembley Stadium, high attendances, keenly-priced season tickets, equitable club ownership and the national team on an upward trajectory, German football appears to be in rude health. But is it?

In the domestic Bundesliga, Bayern finished 25 points clear of Dortmund and 36 points ahead of fourth-placed Schalke 04. If Manchester United’s path to the English Premier League title looked like a cakewalk, the German champions could have taken the entire dessert trolley along with them.

Arguably the competition is beginning to resemble anything but.

Writing in the German tabloid Bild last month, Bayern’s former goalkeeper Oliver Kahn expressed fears that the domination of the Munich club and Dortmund — Bundesliga champions in 2011 and 2012 — is here to stay, and that the gulf at the top could widen even further in the future.

Even Dortmund’s manager Jürgen Klopp has remarked that the league is in danger of becoming boring.

CNN Football Club: Bayern dominate Barca

Do Bayern Munich need Pep Guardiola?

CNN FC: Do Bayern Munich need Guardiola?

Arguably Dortmund were unable to mount an effective challenge this season as they saved their best performances for the Champions League.

But the brilliance of both Bayern and Dortmund in their respective semifinal wins against Real Madrid and Barcelona suggests the Bundesliga needs to be wary of an emerging duopoly.

Read: Bayern give Heynckes winning Bundesliga farewell

It’s not hard to see why Bayern and Dortmund have become so omnipotent both at home and abroad.

“Two great managers, two teams that almost mirror each other in the way they play, the way they attack, the way they defend without the ball,” former Bayern midfielder Owen Hargreaves told CNN.

“Bayern have only conceded something like 15 goals, which is ridiculous in a full season,” he added.

“At Dortmund, the average age is 23, and I think Jürgen Klopp has done such a remarkable job to take that group of players and virtually dominate some terrific European teams.”

Yet among German fans there are concerns.

“Of course the current situation could become unhealthy,” said Stuart Dykes, a Schalke season ticket-holder since 1988, and a supporter liaison officer at fan engagement body, Supporters Direct.

“Even Bayern, while obviously delighted to have won the title so comfortably, have talked about it not being in their interests to do it every year. Ultimately the overall product of German football would suffer.”

Dortmund revival

Not content with running away with the Bundesliga this season, Bayern are already laying plans to dominate next season, notably with the appointment of former Barca coach Pep Guardiola — who guided the Catalonia club to 14 trophies in four years — to take over from Jupp Heynckes.

Dortmund’s hopes of catching Bayern next season have been further jeopardized by the loss of playmaker Mario Gotze, who recently agreed to join the Munich club at the end of this season in a $56 million deal.

Are German teams the best in Europe?

Alex Ferguson’s recipe for success

Friedel: ‘Bale can be world’s best’

Rumors of a Bayern bid for the Bundesliga’s second-highest scorer Robert Lewandowski, whose four goals against Real Madrid in the semis propelled Dortmund to Wembley, suggest a strategy centered on dismantling their only rivals’ chances before next season has even begun.

Read: English Premier League should follow Bundesliga example

The consolation for Dortmund fans is that at least the club has some money to spend to try to keep pace.

Eight years ago it was on the brink of financial ruin, missing rent payments on its stadium and facing crippling losses.

Extraordinarily, a loan from Bayern played a part in Dortmund’s survival — with $2.5 million handed over to help stave off bankruptcy.

Dortmund’s path back to solvency and success has been paved by Klopp’s highly astute signings, such as Poland striker Lewandowski, as well as his trust in talented graduates from the club’s youth academy, like midfielder Nuri Sahin.

But it has been the club’s willingness to part with its top players at the height of their value that has restored Dortmund’s financial health.

Shinji Kagawa, signed for just $300,000 from the Japanese second division, was sold to Manchester United for $17 million, while Sahin joined Real Madrid for $12.8 million.

“Obviously (Dortmund and Bayern) have the power and the money to buy the best players as Bayern has done again; they’ve signed Götze for £37 million, and you know, the rich get richer, and that’s just the way that football works,” said Hargreaves.

“People can argue that’s not fair, but they paid a lot of money to Dortmund — and they can invest that money in younger players.”

Read: Bayern complete rout of Barcelona

In England, the Premier League has taken a laissez-faire approach to regulating clubs’ finances.

Alongside huge television deals — the latest of which could see a record £5.5 billion ($8.3 billion) windfall in broadcasting income — extraordinarily wealthy owners such as Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City have been allowed to spend big for success.

But the model in Germany is very different.

Gullit: Mourinho will return to Chelsea

Marcel Desailly’s Ghana regret

Bayern Munich puts a hurt on Barcelona

Under the league’s “50+1″ rule, Bundesliga clubs must be controlled by their members — with at least 50% of shares, plus one, in their hands.

This means a club cannot be taken over by private investors. At the last vote on changing this rule, back in 2009, only Hannover 96 voted to scrap it.

The German system is geared towards preventing the influence of a rich benefactor from skewing the competition, but some argue that it will only serve to perpetuate the status quo.

Hannover has now won concessions in its attempt to change the “50+1″ rule, and these will allow sponsors with a long-term relationship with a club — more than 20 years — to take a stake in it.

However club fans are already protesting about these changes, perhaps anxious at the advantage such a move might give their rivals.

“The next five years will be interesting,” said Dykes. “The rules have had exceptions to allow for the different ownership structures of teams like Bayer Leverkusen and Vfl Wolfsburg, but Hannover has argued that this leaves them at a disadvantage, and you can see why.”

Read: Football enters space age with ‘Footbonaut’

But how is a booming Bundesliga affecting German football further down the feeding chain?

In the former East Germany, far from the country’s football powerbase, one lowly team’s fortunes are being transformed by Austrian soft drink company Red Bull’s takeover.

In 2009, Rasen Ballsport Leipzig (better known as RB Leipzig) became the fourth club in Red Bull’s football portfolio, alongside Red Bull Salzburg of Austria, Red Bull Brasil, and the New York Red Bulls of the American MLS.

Formerly known as SSV Markranstädt, league regulations prevent the club using the Red Bull brand in its name, so it settled on RB Leipzig instead; but there is no ambiguity over the power driving it forward, with a reported planned $128 million investment to take the club to the Bundesliga by 2017.

After promotion in its first season, followed by two years in German football’s fourth tier, its plans look to be on track as the club prepares to contest the playoffs for another promotion in June.

2012: Football gloom in Munich

Cristiano Ronaldo had a wonderful chance to put Real in front early on but sent his volley straight at Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller.

Mesut Ozil reacts after missing a glorious opportunity to give Real the lead after breaking clear of the Dortmund defense only to drill his effort wide of the post.

Substitute Karim Benzema finally made the breakthrough in the 82nd minute when he slotted home Ozil’s pass from close-range to make it 1-0 on the night and 2-4 on aggregate.

Sergio Ramos set up a nervous finale when he rifled home with two minutes of normal time remaining. That strike left Real needing one more to pull off an unlikely comeback.

Real piled forward in search of a dramatic winner but not even the mercurial Ronaldo could find that elusive third goal.

Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates with his players following the 2-0 defeat which allowed his side to qualify for the final 4-3 on aggregate. It is the first time since 1997 that Dortmund has reached the final when it defeated Juventus 3-1.

Dortmund will face either Barcelona or Bayern Munich at Wembley on May 25. Bayern, which has already won the Bundesliga title, will take a 4-0 lead into the second leg at the Camp No Wednesday.

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Close but not close enough for Real

Olivier Giroud gave Arsenal the perfect start when he slammed home from close-range after Theo Walcott had got in behind the Bayern defense. Following a 3-1 defeat in the first leg, Arsenal needed a fast start and it got it.

Arjen Robben was a constant danger to the Arsenal defense and kept the visiting players busy as Bayern looked for an equalizer.

Bayern, which is 20 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, had not suffered a defeat since October 28 in any competition. Its frustration was clear to see with striker Mario Mandzukic aggrieved with his side’s showing.

With just four minutes of normal time remaining, Arsenal grabs its second goal to set up a thrilling finale thanks to Laurent Koscielny’s header. The Frenchman headed home to leave Bayern clinging on.

Bayern Munich duo Philipp Lahm and Thomas Muller look relieved after the 2-0 home defeat, a result which takes the German side through on away goals following a 3-3 overall draw.

Malaga’s Javier Saviola goes up against Porto’s Alex Sandro with the Spanish club aiming to overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg.

Just two minutes before the break, Malaga made the breakthrough when talented midfielder Isco collected Manuel Iturra’s pass and fired an unstoppable effort into the top corner.

Substitute Roque Santa Cruz netted a 77th minute winner to make it 2-0 on the night and send Malaga through 2-1 on aggregate.

Malaga’s players celebrate at the final whistle following the 2-0 win over Porto — a result which secured a 2-1 aggregate victory overall and its place in the quarterfinals for the first time in its history.

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Bayern clings on

The club’s stadium, the impressive 45,000 capacity Red Bull Arena, is certainly ready.

“We accept this rule,” said RB Liepzig’s managing director Ulrich Wolter, referring to the “50+1″ rule.

“The intention of the rule is to secure the league’s integrity against short-term investment, I think everyone understands that.”

However, Wolter is frustrated at the resistance to RB Leipzig’s owners.

“Red Bull is not a Russian oligarch, or an Arabian sheikh,” he said. “We’ve shown elsewhere that we’re about a strong, sustainable investment and commitment.

“Why is our way the wrong way? What is the difference between our approach and a club with 50 different sponsors delivering the same thing?”

Even so RB Leipzig’s new investors have encountered resistance.

The pitch at its former stadium was attacked with weed killer not long after the takeover, and fans of other clubs can be less than welcoming.

“It’s getting better,” says Wolter. “We’re proud of our family and spectators. We don’t have ‘ultras’ and we don’t need them. It’s a friendly family atmosphere here, with men, women, children, pensioners, it’s a different way.”

Germany’s often raucous fans are, however, part of the fabric of the Bundesliga experience.

The biggest obstacle to change in Germany may come from those very supporters, many of whom view the English Premier League with disdain, given that they see themselves at the center of a club’s structures.

The Bundesliga boasts some of the world’s finest stadia, and its commitment to safe standing areas has helped enable clubs to keep prices low, as well as creating the boisterously vibrant atmosphere that characterizes top-flight games.

But while the cheapest season tickets represent superb value, if fans turn on match day looking for tickets then the story is rather different. “People are always talking about cheap tickets, but it’s misleading,” says Dykes.

The “Footbonaut” — is a robotic cage which footballers can use to improve passing, spatial awareness and control. The machine is being used by German champions Borussia Dortmund.

Once inside the “Footbonaut”, a player is fed balls by eight different machines and then has deliver the ball to one of the 72 panels – – which is indciated by a flashing green light — that make up the space-age contraption before they receive another ball. This picture shows Dortmund’s German star Mario Gotze testing himself against the machine.

German coach Jurgen Klopp has overseen Dortmund’s recent domination of German football. Dortmund have won the Bundesliga in each of the last two seasons, winning plaudits for the adventurous style of play. Klopp’s team also currently sit top of a European Champions League group containing Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax.

Dortmund’s rise to prominence has forced their attractive young squad into the limelight. None more so than Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who was strongly linked with a move to Manchester United earlier this year.

One player who did swap Dortmund for Manchester was Shinji Kagawa. The Japanese playmaker had made a promising start to his Old Trafford career before being sidelined with a knee injury last month. Another player developed by Dortmund was Nuri Sahin, the Turkish midfielder who signed for Real Madrid in 2011 before joining Liverpool on a season-long loan deal in August.

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Dortmund’s training pays dividends

The Schalke Fan Feld, whose centerpiece will be a club logo made up of blue and white flowers lying between two goals, looks directly on to the Bundesliga club’s home stadium – the white domed Veltins-Arena, which can be seen in the gap between the trees in this picture.

Schalke fans are known as some of the most passionate in German football.

The cemetery will only have space for 1,904 graves — reflecting the year of Schalke’s foundation — and the club says there will not be another site when the entire allocation is taken up.

Schalke’s on-field fortunes have improved in recent years to the point where they have brought in leading strikers Raul Gonzalez, who left the club earlier this year, and current Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

The cemetery will be laid out in the shape of a stadium, with the miniature pitch located at the centre.

The “pitch” will feature the Schalke logo, made up of blue and white flowers, with a goal at each end and benches in the middle of those.

Schalke’s Veltins-Arena was built in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup and can hold over 65,000 fans.

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From the cradle to the grave

“Of course standing tickets are cheap, as you would expect; but once these go, and they’re usually in demand, the ticket prices are broadly comparable to those in England.”

In fact, at $88 the most expensive match-day ticket for Bayern is the same as that at Manchester City, for example — and $9 more expensive than at Manchester United.

Read: Bayern coach celebrates 1,000 games

This year, partly in response to incidents of crowd trouble at games, there have even been whispers that the prized standing areas could be abolished.

“Standing is vital to low ticket prices, but also the atmosphere and the overall product of German football,” said a skeptical Dykes.

“The league realizes that and I can’t see the standing areas being given up. It would be difficult under German federal law to ‘ban’ them anyway, so I just can’t see it happening.”

The worry for other Bundesliga clubs must be that the success of Dortmund and Bayern could put them out of sight in the financial and playing stakes; last year Chelsea received an estimated $77 million from winning the Champions League, while beaten finalist Bayern pocketed $53.65 million.

Youth and prudence

However, the notion that a couple of teams might dominate their league is not confined to Germany.

“Spain’s that way, the last three or four years the third or fourth place team, they still play Champions League and they’re 30 points behind,” said Hargreaves.

“A lot of people in Germany love Bayern and love Dortmund, in the same way as people (in England) love Manchester United or Chelsea,” he added, “but there are a lot of people who root for the underdog as well. So I think, in a way, it’s a fair balance.”

Read: Why Guardiola will make Bayern better

And Dykes remains unconvinced that a tipping point has been reached.

“It’s too early to be talking about a duopoly,” he said. “Success comes and goes. If we’re still talking about those two in a few years’ time, or Bayern are still miles ahead, then it would be a worry.

“People look at that possibility and of course it could be bad, but why would it happen? Bayern have always spent big; Dortmund is an exceptional team, but where will they be in three years?

“Players lose form, get injured, things can change quite quickly. I’m not worried.”

For Wolter, the key to success lies in a combination of youth and prudence.

“You look at a team like Freiburg, they have a good academy, a good coach; it’s still possible (to be successful). The new television contract has also given clubs more money … and these academies are profit centers,” he says. “But it’s not all about money. It’s also about education, good background work.”

Nevertheless, as Bayern and Dortmund take the field at Wembley, some may be wondering if, as well as a moment of national pride, this game might also mark a less welcome watershed in German football.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/21/sport/football/champions-league-final-dortmund-bayern-bundesliga/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/5IwjJ0Uco7Y/is-bundesliga-under-threat

Poznan, Poland (CNN) — At the top of a flight of stairs with no elevator in sight, registered nurse Katarzyna Kaseja leans over the rickety metal bars of a crib. Her 4-year-old patient, a ventilator tube fastened to his throat, reaches out to take her hand.

“It’s hard to work as a nurse in Poland,” said Kaseja, 25. Since she began her career at the Specialized Hospital for Mother and Child in the western Poland city of Poznan, little funding and outdated machinery have only been part of the problem.

“There are not enough nurses, and you have to do everything,” she said. “And there is little money and low prestige.”

Meager salaries and demanding hours for nurses, however, are not purely a Polish problem. Throughout Europe, the nursing profession is rapidly losing its appeal. An aging workforce and dwindling student enrollment in nursing schools are precipitating a looming nursing crisis.

Add to that an economic recession and more seniors requiring long-term care, and Europe may be facing a shortage of 1 million health professionals by 2020, according to a European Union Joint Action on Health Workforce Planning estimate.

“People are leaving the profession because they can’t stand the difficult work anymore,” said Paul De Raeve, secretary general of the European Federation of Nurses Associations, which represents the interests of nurses in 27 European countries. “The young generation thinks you must be a fool to go into nursing.”

It’s actually bad all over: America, too, may have 1.2 million job openings for nurses, due to job growth and replacements, by 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Baby boomers causing doctor shortage

A shortage of medical volunteers

However, De Raeve believes the United States can serve as an example for Europe, as President Barack Obama’s administration has committed to improving working conditions.

When the Affordable Care Act takes full effect in 2014, nursing may soon become a more attractive career option in the United States. As part of the ACA, in addition to loan forgiveness programs, nurses will receive increased financial support for pursuing training programs and obtaining advanced certification.

Your health care is covered, but who’s going to treat you?

But in Europe, a clear-cut solution to the nursing crisis may prove to be elusive, as governments and international organizations have very different approaches to dealing with the problem.

In countries such as the United Kingdom, which expects a nursing shortage within the next five years, the focus is on disease prevention and public health to reduce the overall number of patients.

According to Peter Sharp, chief executive at the United Kingdom’s Centre for Workforce Intelligence, an organization providing research and advice on workforce planning, recruiters should encourage nurses who left the job market due to family commitments to return to the workforce. Another plan is to train experienced nurses to take on greater responsibilities.

“A doctor costs more than four times a nurse,” Sharp said. “If you don’t spend as much on doctors, you can spend more on nursing.”

In other countries, such as Germany, the shortage is particularly acute, and the immigration of health care workers from poorer economies even outside of Europe is becoming part of the solution.

“We expect a tremendous nursing shortage of about 500,000 people by 2030,” said Professor Stefan Goerres, managing director of the Institute for Public Health and Health Care Research at the University of Bremen. “Even if the profession were more attractive, there just aren’t enough young people due to declining birth rates.”

In an attempt to alleviate the shortage, the Arbeitgeberverband Pflege, a health employer’s union in Berlin, has come up with an idea — enlisting nurses from China. In cooperation with the German Federal Employment Agency, an experimental project has recruited an initial 150 nurses from China to work in hospitals and nursing homes beginning in early 2014.

This month, at the Shandong International Nurse Training Center in Weihai, China, the nurses selected for the program are beginning their eight-month training in German life, culture, and language.

“The nurses learn international standards for caring, washing the elderly, and physical therapy,” said Kevin Ji, marketing executive of the government-sanctioned nursing center. The training center, which opened in 2001, has more than 400 students a year and has sent its graduates to countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

As part of the curriculum, the nurses destined for Germany have begun absorbing the tenets of German culture to ensure a smooth transition into Western society. “Recently, we had a lecture on garbage and recycling,” Ji said. “It’s very complicated in Germany.”

To create a more unified response to the nursing crisis on a European level, the Joint Action on Health Workforce Planning, funded in part by the European Commission, recently launched a project to foster international cooperation. Beginning this month, its agenda will also focus on the increasing mobility of nurses throughout Europe and its potential social and economic impact.

As the member states of the Joint Action begin to meet, some have expressed concern that the migration of nurses within Europe may have unintended consequences.

“Hungary and Poland are worried that their workforce is being poached by richer countries,” said Sharp, who attended the first Joint Action session in Brussels in April.

While weaker economies fear losing their best and brightest workers, wealthier countries worry about a potential influx of job seekers in a time when Europe is still in the throes of a recession. This scenario could become a reality in January 2014, when the Eastern European countries of Romania and Bulgaria gain unrestricted access to the EU.

The migration of nurses is further exacerbated by a significant wage disparity within Europe. While a nurse in the U.K. can expect a salary of about $2,800 a month, according to National Health Service estimates, a nurse in Romania can earn less than $200.

Back in Poland, about 500 nurses have requested official certificates to seek employment abroad over the past decade, said Teresa Kruczkowska, head of the self-governing Regional Parliament of Nurses in Poznan. In an area of only 3.5 million inhabitants, this would be enough to staff two large hospitals.

Kaseja, the nurse at the children’s intensive care unit in Poznan, said she loves working with children. But would she consider moving to a better-paying country?

She hesitates. In the small ward — its walls painted a cheerful green — her young patients lay motionless beneath the bulky, dated ventilator machines.

“Maybe,” she says.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/21/health/europe-nursing-shortage/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/kWRCCJMn9hc/where-have-europes-nurses-gone

(CNN) — It was the end of the school day. The kids at Plaza Towers Elementary School were stuffing their backpacks, looking forward to going home, playing with friends, eating snacks.

But the tornado warnings changed that.

When the twister came barreling in Monday afternoon, terrified young students huddled together in the hallways, screaming as walls and roofs caved in. Chairs and backpacks swirled above them. The winds and blaring sounds enveloped them. Cars from the parking lot landed just inches away.

Teachers dove onto groups of kids to protect them from falling debris.

It was the biggest tornado they’d ever seen. Described as a lawn-mower blade spanning two miles, it shredded through their town.

A snapshot of courage after tornado levels school

“It was scary,” student Julio Rodriguez told CNN. Teachers instructed the kids to crouch down, “and you covered your head with your hands,” he demonstrated.

“I had to hold on to the wall to keep myself safe because I didn’t want to fly away in the tornado,” one little girl told KFOR.

The 17 mile-long twister stayed on the ground for 40 minutes.

By the time it was gone, so was the school in Moore, Oklahoma. In its place was a huge pile of rubble, trapping teachers and children.

How to help

And seven students were dead.

“Some of the children drowned because they were in the basement area, water came in,” Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told CNN.

The school quickly became the epicenter of the tragedy in this shattered town, part of the metropolitan Oklahoma City area.

‘I love you,’ teacher tells students

‘We had to pull a car off a teacher’

First responders and volunteers rushed to the scene to begin the treacherous work of searching for survivors.

“We had to pull a car off a teacher and she had three little kids underneath her,” one first responder, in tears, told KFOR. “Good job, teach.”

“I was on top of six kids,” one sixth grade teacher said, working her way across the rubble. “I was lying on top. All of mine are OK.”

Teachers helped tear through several feet of rubble to rescue sobbing students, some of them injured.

Rescue teams successfully pulled several kids from the leveled school.

But with each passing hour, the hope began to fade.

Crews continued their search around the clock, rummaging through nearly 40 feet of rubble, CNN affiliate KOKH reported.

Some students were fortunate — they got out of the school before the tornado struck.

Officials had managed to bus some children to a nearby church, which turned out to be clear of the tornado’s direct path, KFOR reported.

After the tornado, terrified parents hurried to get as close to the school as the devastation allowed. They had been helpless during the twister, unable to get to their kids, desperate. They were sent to the church to begin what would be a horrible wait.

The devastation is palpable throughout Moore.

“We have not yet reached the coping state,” a first responder named Wes told CNN iReport Tuesday “We still have not processed what has happened.”

Deadliest tornadoes on record

Disaster sparks call for shelters

Even so, the horror has already sparked calls for changes in Oklahoma schools.

While Plaza Towers Elementary apparently did have a basement, it did not have a storm shelter.

“Most of the schools in Oklahoma don’t have one” because of the cost, Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis told CNN. But he said he’s sure that will change now.

Schools that rebuilt after a massive tornado in 1999 do have storm shelters, he said.

Oklahoma state Rep. Mark McBride called for legislation next year. “The children are sacred. We need to protect these kids,” he said.

The state is so used to having tornadoes that people “get lax” and think “it’s not a big deal,” he said.

Now, McBride added, “it’s got to change.”

CNN’s Pamela Brown and George Howell contributed to this report.

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The Xbox One features a Blu-ray drive, TV input and an AMD APU.

Microsoft has lifted the lid on its new games console, revealing it as the Xbox One.

The announcement ends years of speculation about just what technology and features would be in the followup to the hugely successful Xbox 360.

As expected it features a TV input for instant switching to live TV. It also makes heavy use of a new Kinect to navigate the interface using gestures or voice control, with high-speed switching between TV, gaming, music playback and other apps.

Don Mattrick, President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, introduced the new console and declared it “simple, instant and complete”, with Microsoft aiming to make “technology step behind the curtain and you and your entertainment to take center stage”

Xbox One Specs

The heart of the Xbox Infinity is its new processor that features 5 billion transistors and that is backed up by 8GB of RAM. Accompanying this will be a 500GB hard drive, USB 3.0 inputs, Wi-Fi Direct, and HDMI connectivity.

Another key feature will be a Blu-ray drive, though Microsoft hasn’t revealed exactly how this will be used. While it will play films, we don’t yet know how it will handle games, and whether games can be installed to the hard drive.

Similarly the company has yet to confirm if the new chip is the much rumoured AMD APU, nor has it given details on the number of cores, GPU processors or clock speeds for either.

Xbox One Kinect

Key to the new Xbox One experience is its included new Kinect, which will be used to control gestures as well as power voice-control. This will be used to recognise the user such that by saying “Xbox on”, the console will power on and go straight to that user’s profile.

The new Kinect will, like the previous version, be a separate device placed above or in front of a TV. The new version, however, is much more sensitive and can sense up to 6 players at once. It can also understand much more subtle gestures, allowing for finer control.

Xbox One controller

The other key aspect to controlling the Xbox One is its controller. This features largely the same design as the previous model but with “40 design innovations”. These include a slimming down of the controller by integrating the battery pack, a new D-pad and triggers that have user-configurable sensitivity.

Microsoft also sees Smartglass as a key part of the Xbox One eco system.

Xbox One Games

Microsoft has confirmed it will be bringing eight brand new franchises and seven other exclusive franchises to the Xbox One within the first year of release.

During the Xbox One reveal event the company demonstrated new EA Sports titles, including a new FIFA and NFL games.

A new Forza title was also shown, as was a new title called Quantum Break, which appears to deal with time travel.

Tying into one of the platforms most successful franchises, the company also confirmed a live action Halo TV series that will be directed by Steven Spielberg.

Call of Duty Ghosts, the next game in the series, was also given its first public showing. Activision talked at length about the new game engine the title will use that includes a host of next-gen graphics tweaks. These include tool called sub-D, which dynamically changes the number of triangles used to render an object depending on how close the player is, fluid dynamics for water, interactive smoke and support for much higher textures that can for instance be used to show blood and fingernail dirt on the player’s hands.

The engine also support apparently sophisticated AI for controlling the dog that accompanies the player throughout the game. Fish will also swim away from you.

Xbox One release date and price

Microsoft has yet to reveal a price or exact release date for the new console but Don Mattrick did confirm the console will be arriving this year. He also confirmed that E3 will see a host of game announcements for the new console.

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Bayern Munich won the German Bundesliga title by a margin of 25 points from second placed Borussia Dortmund, who have been champions in the two previous seasons. Bayern finished an incredible 36 points clear of fourth placed Schalke. Critics argue the dominance of both clubs could be bad for Germany’s top tier, which they say is becoming too predictable.

As well as domestic dominance, both clubs are excelling in European competition. Germany’s top two — Bayern and Dortmund — will contest the Champions League final at Wembley on May 25.

Just days before Dortmund’s Champions League semifinal with Spanish giants Real Madrid it was confirmed one of their star players, Mario Gotze, would be joining Bayern next season for a deal reported to be worth $56 million. Signing one of their nearest rivals’ best players should only strengthen Bayern’s grip on domestic competition.

All-conquering Bayern, who will contest the German Cup final on June 1 as they seek an historic treble, are preparing to welcome Josep Guardiola as their new coach for next season. The former Barcelona manager won 14 trophies in a four-year spell at the Spanish giants, sparking a clamor for his signature after he spent a year out of the game.

German clubs are famed for being well run, creating a good atmosphere at games, with Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion a case in point. Cheap tickets for standing areas play a large part in that, and Dortmund’s players make a point of thanking their supporters after every game.

All but three top-flight clubs — Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim — are owned by supporters under the 50+1 rule, that dictates clubs must be majority owned by fans to prevent them being taken over by private investors. The last vote on changing the “50+1″ rule came back in 2009 and only Hannover 96 voted to scrap it. Here Hamburg fans hold up banners at a recent Bundesliga match against Hannover that reads: “Us for you, you for us.”

There are exceptions lower down the leagues too. In 2009, soft drinks giant Red Bull bought the license of German fifth division club SSV Markranstädt to create Rasen Ballsport Leipzig. The aim was to make the top tier — the Bundesliga — within 10 years. Leipzig will contest a playoff to make the third division in June.

Red Bull was prevented from attaching its brand name to the club so settled for calling it Rasen Ballsport Leipzig, shortened to RB Leipzig so as to carry the energy drink firm’s initials.

The club moved from its old home to the newly-built Red Bull Arena in 2010. It is the fifth soccer team in the company’s portfolio.

Reports estimate that Red Bull is prepared to pump $128 million into the club. A new training center and youth academy, currently being built, will open in 2015 at a cost of $45 million.

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(CNN) — Most fans would agree that a great football league needs some key ingredients: skilful players, excitement and drama on the pitch; and off the field, passionate supporters and owners who love and understand the game.

But these days soccer is also about big business, million-dollar deals and billionaire benefactors lining up to plow money into the game.

Those seeking a balance between these sometimes awkward bedfellows will often point to Germany and the Bundesliga. With two clubs in Saturday’s Champions League final at London’s Wembley Stadium, high attendances, keenly-priced season tickets, equitable club ownership and the national team on an upward trajectory, German football appears to be in rude health. But is it?

In the domestic Bundesliga, Bayern finished 25 points clear of Dortmund and 36 points ahead of fourth-placed Schalke 04. If Manchester United’s path to the English Premier League title looked like a cakewalk, the German champions could have taken the entire dessert trolley along with them.

Arguably the competition is beginning to resemble anything but.

Writing in the German tabloid Bild last month, Bayern’s former goalkeeper Oliver Kahn expressed fears that the domination of the Munich club and Dortmund — Bundesliga champions in 2011 and 2012 — is here to stay, and that the gulf at the top could widen even further in the future.

Even Dortmund’s manager Jürgen Klopp has remarked that the league is in danger of becoming boring.

CNN Football Club: Bayern dominate Barca

Do Bayern Munich need Pep Guardiola?

CNN FC: Do Bayern Munich need Guardiola?

Arguably Dortmund were unable to mount an effective challenge this season as they saved their best performances for the Champions League.

But the brilliance of both Bayern and Dortmund in their respective semifinal wins against Real Madrid and Barcelona suggests the Bundesliga needs to be wary of an emerging duopoly.

Read: Bayern give Heynckes winning Bundesliga farewell

It’s not hard to see why Bayern and Dortmund have become so omnipotent both at home and abroad.

“Two great managers, two teams that almost mirror each other in the way they play, the way they attack, the way they defend without the ball,” former Bayern midfielder Owen Hargreaves told CNN.

“Bayern have only conceded something like 15 goals, which is ridiculous in a full season,” he added.

“At Dortmund, the average age is 23, and I think Jürgen Klopp has done such a remarkable job to take that group of players and virtually dominate some terrific European teams.”

Yet among German fans there are concerns.

“Of course the current situation could become unhealthy,” said Stuart Dykes, a Schalke season ticket-holder since 1988, and a supporter liaison officer at fan engagement body, Supporters Direct.

“Even Bayern, while obviously delighted to have won the title so comfortably, have talked about it not being in their interests to do it every year. Ultimately the overall product of German football would suffer.”

Dortmund revival

Not content with running away with the Bundesliga this season, Bayern are already laying plans to dominate next season, notably with the appointment of former Barca coach Pep Guardiola — who guided the Catalonia club to 14 trophies in four years — to take over from Jupp Heynckes.

Dortmund’s hopes of catching Bayern next season have been further jeopardized by the loss of playmaker Mario Gotze, who recently agreed to join the Munich club at the end of this season in a $56 million deal.

Are German teams the best in Europe?

Alex Ferguson’s recipe for success

Friedel: ‘Bale can be world’s best’

Rumors of a Bayern bid for the Bundesliga’s second-highest scorer Robert Lewandowski, whose four goals against Real Madrid in the semis propelled Dortmund to Wembley, suggest a strategy centered on dismantling their only rivals’ chances before next season has even begun.

Read: English Premier League should follow Bundesliga example

The consolation for Dortmund fans is that at least the club has some money to spend to try to keep pace.

Eight years ago it was on the brink of financial ruin, missing rent payments on its stadium and facing crippling losses.

Extraordinarily, a loan from Bayern played a part in Dortmund’s survival — with $2.5 million handed over to help stave off bankruptcy.

Dortmund’s path back to solvency and success has been paved by Klopp’s highly astute signings, such as Poland striker Lewandowski, as well as his trust in talented graduates from the club’s youth academy, like midfielder Nuri Sahin.

But it has been the club’s willingness to part with its top players at the height of their value that has restored Dortmund’s financial health.

Shinji Kagawa, signed for just $300,000 from the Japanese second division, was sold to Manchester United for $17 million, while Sahin joined Real Madrid for $12.8 million.

“Obviously (Dortmund and Bayern) have the power and the money to buy the best players as Bayern has done again; they’ve signed Götze for £37 million, and you know, the rich get richer, and that’s just the way that football works,” said Hargreaves.

“People can argue that’s not fair, but they paid a lot of money to Dortmund — and they can invest that money in younger players.”

Read: Bayern complete rout of Barcelona

In England, the Premier League has taken a laissez-faire approach to regulating clubs’ finances.

Alongside huge television deals — the latest of which could see a record £5.5 billion ($8.3 billion) windfall in broadcasting income — extraordinarily wealthy owners such as Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City have been allowed to spend big for success.

But the model in Germany is very different.

Gullit: Mourinho will return to Chelsea

Marcel Desailly’s Ghana regret

Bayern Munich puts a hurt on Barcelona

Under the league’s “50+1″ rule, Bundesliga clubs must be controlled by their members — with at least 50% of shares, plus one, in their hands.

This means a club cannot be taken over by private investors. At the last vote on changing this rule, back in 2009, only Hannover 96 voted to scrap it.

The German system is geared towards preventing the influence of a rich benefactor from skewing the competition, but some argue that it will only serve to perpetuate the status quo.

Hannover has now won concessions in its attempt to change the “50+1″ rule, and these will allow sponsors with a long-term relationship with a club — more than 20 years — to take a stake in it.

However club fans are already protesting about these changes, perhaps anxious at the advantage such a move might give their rivals.

“The next five years will be interesting,” said Dykes. “The rules have had exceptions to allow for the different ownership structures of teams like Bayer Leverkusen and Vfl Wolfsburg, but Hannover has argued that this leaves them at a disadvantage, and you can see why.”

Read: Football enters space age with ‘Footbonaut’

But how is a booming Bundesliga affecting German football further down the feeding chain?

In the former East Germany, far from the country’s football powerbase, one lowly team’s fortunes are being transformed by Austrian soft drink company Red Bull’s takeover.

In 2009, Rasen Ballsport Leipzig (better known as RB Leipzig) became the fourth club in Red Bull’s football portfolio, alongside Red Bull Salzburg of Austria, Red Bull Brasil, and the New York Red Bulls of the American MLS.

Formerly known as SSV Markranstädt, league regulations prevent the club using the Red Bull brand in its name, so it settled on RB Leipzig instead; but there is no ambiguity over the power driving it forward, with a reported planned $128 million investment to take the club to the Bundesliga by 2017.

After promotion in its first season, followed by two years in German football’s fourth tier, its plans look to be on track as the club prepares to contest the playoffs for another promotion in June.

2012: Football gloom in Munich

Cristiano Ronaldo had a wonderful chance to put Real in front early on but sent his volley straight at Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller.

Mesut Ozil reacts after missing a glorious opportunity to give Real the lead after breaking clear of the Dortmund defense only to drill his effort wide of the post.

Substitute Karim Benzema finally made the breakthrough in the 82nd minute when he slotted home Ozil’s pass from close-range to make it 1-0 on the night and 2-4 on aggregate.

Sergio Ramos set up a nervous finale when he rifled home with two minutes of normal time remaining. That strike left Real needing one more to pull off an unlikely comeback.

Real piled forward in search of a dramatic winner but not even the mercurial Ronaldo could find that elusive third goal.

Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates with his players following the 2-0 defeat which allowed his side to qualify for the final 4-3 on aggregate. It is the first time since 1997 that Dortmund has reached the final when it defeated Juventus 3-1.

Dortmund will face either Barcelona or Bayern Munich at Wembley on May 25. Bayern, which has already won the Bundesliga title, will take a 4-0 lead into the second leg at the Camp No Wednesday.

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Close but not close enough for Real

Olivier Giroud gave Arsenal the perfect start when he slammed home from close-range after Theo Walcott had got in behind the Bayern defense. Following a 3-1 defeat in the first leg, Arsenal needed a fast start and it got it.

Arjen Robben was a constant danger to the Arsenal defense and kept the visiting players busy as Bayern looked for an equalizer.

Bayern, which is 20 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, had not suffered a defeat since October 28 in any competition. Its frustration was clear to see with striker Mario Mandzukic aggrieved with his side’s showing.

With just four minutes of normal time remaining, Arsenal grabs its second goal to set up a thrilling finale thanks to Laurent Koscielny’s header. The Frenchman headed home to leave Bayern clinging on.

Bayern Munich duo Philipp Lahm and Thomas Muller look relieved after the 2-0 home defeat, a result which takes the German side through on away goals following a 3-3 overall draw.

Malaga’s Javier Saviola goes up against Porto’s Alex Sandro with the Spanish club aiming to overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg.

Just two minutes before the break, Malaga made the breakthrough when talented midfielder Isco collected Manuel Iturra’s pass and fired an unstoppable effort into the top corner.

Substitute Roque Santa Cruz netted a 77th minute winner to make it 2-0 on the night and send Malaga through 2-1 on aggregate.

Malaga’s players celebrate at the final whistle following the 2-0 win over Porto — a result which secured a 2-1 aggregate victory overall and its place in the quarterfinals for the first time in its history.

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Bayern clings on

The club’s stadium, the impressive 45,000 capacity Red Bull Arena, is certainly ready.

“We accept this rule,” said RB Liepzig’s managing director Ulrich Wolter, referring to the “50+1″ rule.

“The intention of the rule is to secure the league’s integrity against short-term investment, I think everyone understands that.”

However, Wolter is frustrated at the resistance to RB Leipzig’s owners.

“Red Bull is not a Russian oligarch, or an Arabian sheikh,” he said. “We’ve shown elsewhere that we’re about a strong, sustainable investment and commitment.

“Why is our way the wrong way? What is the difference between our approach and a club with 50 different sponsors delivering the same thing?”

Even so RB Leipzig’s new investors have encountered resistance.

The pitch at its former stadium was attacked with weed killer not long after the takeover, and fans of other clubs can be less than welcoming.

“It’s getting better,” says Wolter. “We’re proud of our family and spectators. We don’t have ‘ultras’ and we don’t need them. It’s a friendly family atmosphere here, with men, women, children, pensioners, it’s a different way.”

Germany’s often raucous fans are, however, part of the fabric of the Bundesliga experience.

The biggest obstacle to change in Germany may come from those very supporters, many of whom view the English Premier League with disdain, given that they see themselves at the center of a club’s structures.

The Bundesliga boasts some of the world’s finest stadia, and its commitment to safe standing areas has helped enable clubs to keep prices low, as well as creating the boisterously vibrant atmosphere that characterizes top-flight games.

But while the cheapest season tickets represent superb value, if fans turn on match day looking for tickets then the story is rather different. “People are always talking about cheap tickets, but it’s misleading,” says Dykes.

The “Footbonaut” — is a robotic cage which footballers can use to improve passing, spatial awareness and control. The machine is being used by German champions Borussia Dortmund.

Once inside the “Footbonaut”, a player is fed balls by eight different machines and then has deliver the ball to one of the 72 panels – – which is indciated by a flashing green light — that make up the space-age contraption before they receive another ball. This picture shows Dortmund’s German star Mario Gotze testing himself against the machine.

German coach Jurgen Klopp has overseen Dortmund’s recent domination of German football. Dortmund have won the Bundesliga in each of the last two seasons, winning plaudits for the adventurous style of play. Klopp’s team also currently sit top of a European Champions League group containing Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax.

Dortmund’s rise to prominence has forced their attractive young squad into the limelight. None more so than Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who was strongly linked with a move to Manchester United earlier this year.

One player who did swap Dortmund for Manchester was Shinji Kagawa. The Japanese playmaker had made a promising start to his Old Trafford career before being sidelined with a knee injury last month. Another player developed by Dortmund was Nuri Sahin, the Turkish midfielder who signed for Real Madrid in 2011 before joining Liverpool on a season-long loan deal in August.

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Dortmund’s training pays dividends

The Schalke Fan Feld, whose centerpiece will be a club logo made up of blue and white flowers lying between two goals, looks directly on to the Bundesliga club’s home stadium – the white domed Veltins-Arena, which can be seen in the gap between the trees in this picture.

Schalke fans are known as some of the most passionate in German football.

The cemetery will only have space for 1,904 graves — reflecting the year of Schalke’s foundation — and the club says there will not be another site when the entire allocation is taken up.

Schalke’s on-field fortunes have improved in recent years to the point where they have brought in leading strikers Raul Gonzalez, who left the club earlier this year, and current Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

The cemetery will be laid out in the shape of a stadium, with the miniature pitch located at the centre.

The “pitch” will feature the Schalke logo, made up of blue and white flowers, with a goal at each end and benches in the middle of those.

Schalke’s Veltins-Arena was built in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup and can hold over 65,000 fans.

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From the cradle to the grave

“Of course standing tickets are cheap, as you would expect; but once these go, and they’re usually in demand, the ticket prices are broadly comparable to those in England.”

In fact, at $88 the most expensive match-day ticket for Bayern is the same as that at Manchester City, for example — and $9 more expensive than at Manchester United.

Read: Bayern coach celebrates 1,000 games

This year, partly in response to incidents of crowd trouble at games, there have even been whispers that the prized standing areas could be abolished.

“Standing is vital to low ticket prices, but also the atmosphere and the overall product of German football,” said a skeptical Dykes.

“The league realizes that and I can’t see the standing areas being given up. It would be difficult under German federal law to ‘ban’ them anyway, so I just can’t see it happening.”

The worry for other Bundesliga clubs must be that the success of Dortmund and Bayern could put them out of sight in the financial and playing stakes; last year Chelsea received an estimated $77 million from winning the Champions League, while beaten finalist Bayern pocketed $53.65 million.

Youth and prudence

However, the notion that a couple of teams might dominate their league is not confined to Germany.

“Spain’s that way, the last three or four years the third or fourth place team, they still play Champions League and they’re 30 points behind,” said Hargreaves.

“A lot of people in Germany love Bayern and love Dortmund, in the same way as people (in England) love Manchester United or Chelsea,” he added, “but there are a lot of people who root for the underdog as well. So I think, in a way, it’s a fair balance.”

Read: Why Guardiola will make Bayern better

And Dykes remains unconvinced that a tipping point has been reached.

“It’s too early to be talking about a duopoly,” he said. “Success comes and goes. If we’re still talking about those two in a few years’ time, or Bayern are still miles ahead, then it would be a worry.

“People look at that possibility and of course it could be bad, but why would it happen? Bayern have always spent big; Dortmund is an exceptional team, but where will they be in three years?

“Players lose form, get injured, things can change quite quickly. I’m not worried.”

For Wolter, the key to success lies in a combination of youth and prudence.

“You look at a team like Freiburg, they have a good academy, a good coach; it’s still possible (to be successful). The new television contract has also given clubs more money … and these academies are profit centers,” he says. “But it’s not all about money. It’s also about education, good background work.”

Nevertheless, as Bayern and Dortmund take the field at Wembley, some may be wondering if, as well as a moment of national pride, this game might also mark a less welcome watershed in German football.

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Leap Motion’s eponymous controller has been demonstrated interacting with Microsoft’s Windows 8 Modern UI without the need for a touch-screen display.

Leap Motion, the company behind the eponymous gesture-sensing human-machine interaction (HMI) system, has released a video demonstrating how the technology works in conjunction with Microsoft’s undeniably touch-centric Windows 8 operating system.

The latest in Microsoft’s long-running Windows software series, Windows 8 came in for a great deal of flak at launch when it introduced the Modern UI. Previously known as Metro, Modern UI is a tile-based user interface developed from that originally created for Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. While tweaked for larger screens, Modern UI retains its focus on touch-screen interaction – a focus shared by Microsoft, which is currently working hard to bring touch-screen technology from tablets into mainstream computing.

The problem, Modern UI’s detractors claim, is that most laptops and almost all desktops do not currently have a touch-screen. An interface that works great on a tablet does not, therefore, translate to the desktop terribly well – a fact Microsoft has tacitly acknowledged with a promise to revisit the keyboard-and-mouse experience when it launches the Windows 8.1 update later this year.

With most users not willing to trade in their monitors for touch-screen versions, Leap Motion had a bright idea: the development of a gesture-based control system that can sit unobtrusively in front of the screen and pick up the user’s fingertips with a claimed accuracy of 0.01mm at a claimed 290 frames per second. The device works with any monitor – technically, it works fine without a monitor, too, but you won’t be able to see what you’re doing – and, because it’s contact-free, doesn’t need you to stop and clean mucky fingerprints off the screen every half-hour.

The company’s concept proved popular: it raised nearly $43 million in funding and has the support of hardware and software partners from Asus to ZeptoLabs – the latter being the company behind popular swipe-based tablet and smartphone game Cut the Rope.

Gaming isn’t the only feature of Leap Motion, however. As well as promised plug-ins for Autodesk software that claim to make 3D modelling significantly more straightforward, the company has worked hard on interfacing the system with the underlying operating system – a task made easier by Modern UI’s focus on gesture- and touch-based interaction.

A video released by the company reveals how far the technology has come from the early prototypes it has previously displayed. ‘From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you’ll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air,‘ a company spokesperson crowed at the release of the video. ‘With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that’s possible with multi-touch inputs — without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements.‘

The company has promised to release a second video demonstrating the controller’s interaction with Apple’s OS X platform, but these teasers are likely to leave fans concerned about repeated delays. Originally scheduled to launch last year but delayed for last-minute tweaks, Leap Motion claimed in February that it had a May release in mind. Now, however, the company is claiming that pre-orders – some of which it had received nearly a year ago – will not be shipping until the 22nd of July.

The company’s demonstration video is reproduced below, while more information is available on the official website.

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